NL Celebrity Teapot and Art Online Auction

Ruff-Spots is holding an online auction featuring a wonderful assortment of Prints and Teapots from some of Newfoundlands finest celebrities. http://www.ruffspots.com/auction

Karl Wells
St. John's Mayor Andy Wells
St. John's Councillor Gerry Colbert
Mount Pearl Mayor Steve Kent
Designer Eric White
Deputy Mayor St. John's Dennis O'Keefe
Potter Pauline Bartlett
Artist Odell Archibald
St. John's Councillor Shannie Duff
Artist Jackie Gayle-Vaillancourt
Artist Lloyd Pretty
Shelia Guy-Murphy
Tessa Crosbie
Sharon Snow
Actress Berni Stapleton
Actor Andy Jones

Thank you for your support!

Wesley needs our help!

Wesley is a 9 month old male Chocolate Lab at the Gander SPCA who was rescued by some very kind people after he had been spotted in a pond trying to stay above the water. When he was taken ashore it was discovered that someone had intentionally tried to drown him, as he had been weighed down with a heavy object. Charges are pending.

NL Pet Expo June 2 and 3, 2007

Mark your calendars for the largest Pet Expo to be held in NL.

A family fun weekend featuring pets of all shapes and sizes, a variety of pet buisinesses, animal rescue groups and scheduled pet demonstrations.

This event will take place on June 2 and 3 at the St. John's Curling Club. Visit NL Pet Expo for more information.

Ruff-Spots will also have a booth set up plus their will be a weekend raffle taking place with proceeds split between Beagle Paws and Ruff-Spots.

Fundraiser Updates!!

The invitations to the Tea Garden in Holyrood have been sold out!! Yipee! It promises to be a great afternoon with wonderful community sponsors supporting us.

There are still tickets available on our "Vacation. Relaxation> Rejuvenation." Ticket Draw for June 24th. Call us at 782-SPAY to purchase yours or to help us sell tickets.

More info on the tickets can be found on our website at www.ruffspots.com

Thank you to everyone for your support with these 2 fundraisers!

Bill would crack down on puppy peddlers

POSTED: 0330 GMT (1130 HKT), May 14, 2007

Story Highlights• Humane Society says 18,000 dogs and cats snatched up, sold to labs each year• Proposed bill makes it illegal for middlemen to sell "random source" animals• Measure dubbed "Buck's Bill" in honor of dog seized from a dealer in 2003• Opponents say no need for law because labs are careful about source of animals

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's the nightmare of pet lovers everywhere: Their beloved Fido or Whiskers gets lost, is scooped up by animal thieves, then sold to be dissected in a university research lab.

The Humane Society of the United States estimates that every year middlemen known as "Class B" animal dealers round up about 18,000 dogs and cats through flea markets and free-to-good-home ads, and then sell them to laboratories and university research labs.
In the process, it says lost pets are rounded up, too.

Now that Congress has undergone a change in leadership, the animal advocacy group hopes lawmakers will make it illegal for "Class B" dealers to sell "random source" cats and dogs to research labs.

The proposed ban is dubbed "Buck's Bill" in honor of Buck, a black hound dog seized in 2003 in Oklahoma from a dealer. Buck, who had heartworm disease and other ailments, died of internal hemorrhaging months after his rescue, while in foster care.

Mary Hanley, the executive vice president of the National Association for Biomedical Research, said she sees no reason for the law change. There may have been past abuses, she said, but it's not the current reality. Labs are required to keep documentation on where their research animals came from.

"Research facilities take great care," Hanley said. "They don't want dogs that they don't know where they came from. They take great care so that they do know."

Pennsylvania Reps. Phil English and Mike Doyle disagree. "Lost or stolen animals may be getting in the queue for experimentation" without their owners' knowledge despite laws designed to prevent that, said English, a Republican who sponsored a House bill with Doyle, a Democrat.
Under their bill, labs would still be able to obtain research animals from breeders, pet owners who donate them, or shelters as long as the animal in question is not a stray. The bill is still pending before both the House and Senate agriculture committees.

The Department of Agriculture estimates that there are about 10 to 20 Class B dealers that sell to labs -- far fewer than in the late 1970s and early 1980s when there were more than 1,000 such dealers.

The states with Class B dealers that provide animals to labs are Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, according to the Humane Society.

Doyle said the Department of Agriculture doesn't have the money to ensure that the dealers are complying with animal welfare laws. Undercover work by outside groups has found evidence of animals being mistreated by Class B animal dealers, he said.

Darby Holladay, a USDA spokesman, said he could not comment on pending investigations or legislation.

A House agriculture panel held a hearing on the subject of animal welfare last week, which Wayne Pacelle, the Humane Society's CEO, said was a good sign that the Democratic-controlled Congress may take legislation like this seriously. The committee's last serious look at animal welfare was in 2000, he said.

An estimated 90,000 dogs and cats are bought by research facilities and veterinary schools each year. The Humane Society estimates that 70 percent comes from breeders, 20 percent come from Class B dealers, and 10 percent come from pounds.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, sponsored the bill in the Senate.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Join us in Holyrood on June 24th!

As summer is fast approaching and the thoughts of warm weather is on our minds, why not join us on June 24th at the Tea Garden in Holyrood for our "Tea Spots" Fundraiser.

Tickets are $20.00 per person and must be purchased in advance. There will be door prizes, suprises and a small ticket auction. Grab a friend, spouse, your mom and dad, a brother or sister and join us for a wonderful day.

Please call 782-SPAY to purchase your invitation.

A warm thank-you to our wonderful communitysponsors for this event.

Piece Makers Quilt Shop, CBS
Garden Gifts Ltd. Lillian Noel
Deborah Clarke, Harpist

"Vacation, Relaxation, Rejuvenation" Ticket Draw

WIN WIN WIN

3 GRAND PRIZE DRAWS

"Vacation, Relaxation, Rejuvenation"
You could win one of three fabulous "Get-away" Packages for two

Tickets just $2.00 each/3 for $5.00
Draw Date: June 24, 2007 at the Tea Garden, Holyrood

(Stay Tuned for Details on where and how to purchase tickets!)

City Nights ($1000.00 value)

• Banberry House B & B-One night accomodations
• Peter Belbins Steakhouse-Dinner for 2 ($75.00)
• Leaside Manor-One night accomodations
• Spa at the Monastery & Suites-Vitality Day Passes for two
• Oliver's Restaurant-Dinner for 2 ($75.00)
• Memories Forever-Limo Ride from Downtown to Signall Hill & return
• The Rooms Cafe-Weekend Brunch for 2
• Shopping certificates ($150.00 total)-Dandelion Green, Home on Water and Details & Designs
• Movie Passes-Sobey's, Old Placentia Road
• 'Lug' Overnight Bag-A Special Touch
  

Coastal Sights ($1000.00 value)

• Bears Cove Inn, Witless Bay-One night Accomodations
• Gatherall's Boat Tours-Bird & Whale watching Excursion for two
• Lighthouse Picnics, Ferryland-Gourmet Picnic for two
• The Bread & Cheese Inn, Bay Bulls-One night Accomodations
• $100.00 Gas card-North Atlantic Refining
• Shopping certificate-Alderberry Blum, Bay Bulls
• The Tea Garden, Holyrood-Seaside Dining for two
• Bushnell Natureview 8x40 binoculars-The Bird House & Binocular Shop
• Champagne, Flutes & Lindt Truffles
• Men's Tilley Hat
• 'Lug' Overnight Bag-A Special Touch

Ocean Delights ($1000.00 value)

• The Beach House, St. Philips/Portugal Cove-One night accomodations
• Atlantica Restaurant-Evening Dining ($100.00 Certificate)
• Rhychrist Inn, Bell Island-One night accomodations
• Fuji FinePix A400 Digital Camera-Shoppers Drug Mart, Gibson Drive
• Two Golf Passes-Clovelly Golf Club
• 'Lug' Overnight Bag-A Special Touch
• 'G.M Collins Sun Protection & Exfoliant Creams w/beach bag & 'Sensi" Sandals-Rosewood Day Spa, Fairmont Hotel
• UVEX Sunglasses
• Picnic Basket, Picnic Lunch, Wine & Wine Glasses-Living Rooms Churchill Square & Downtown

Funds raised from this fundraiser will be evenly divided between our shelter spay/neuter program and our SNAP-NL Program.

We applaud & thank our generous & supportive community sponsors!

More Menu Foods Recall

May 2, 2007

Menu Foods Adds to Recall List

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(May 2, 2007) - Menu Foods
Attention Business/Financial Editors

Menu Foods has previously recalled wet cat and dog food produced with adulterated wheat gluten supplied by ChemNutra Inc. Menu Foods is now expanding the recall to include cuts and gravy and select other products which do not include ChemNutra wheat gluten but which were manufactured at any of Menu Foods’ plants during the period that ChemNutra wheat gluten was used at that plant, to the extent they have not already been subject to a recall, due to the possibility of cross-contamination. Menu Foods has received a report from a customer and has received study results, both of which indicate cross-contamination.

As a result, Menu advises the public:

- Additional items in the United States and Canada have been added to the recall list as shown below. A further two varieties for Europe have been added to the recall list.
- The recall dates of those products previously recalled have been modified to include all dates during the period that ChemNutra wheat gluten was used in the applicable Menu plant. All of these products, including the expanded dates, have previously been withdrawn from the market and should already be off the retailer shelves.


Menu estimates that this additional recall represents less than 5% of the products that have already been recalled or withdrawn. Menu has also revised its estimate of the out-of-pocket costs for the total recall to be from $40 million to $45 million.

An updated list of the recalled products, including this addition, is available at the Menu Foods website at http://www.menufoods.com.

Casper needs a new loving home too!!

Hi, they called me Casper. I am a very friendly cat, like Casper the friendly ghost. I am a young neutered male cat who came to the Clarenville SPCA in a sad state. I was severely matted, extremely dirty, had an injured paw and a severe ear mite infestation. Since arriving here, thanks to some great people, I have been neutered, shaved, treated for my ear mites and put on medication for my injured paw. I love attention and can't believe how good it is here at the shelter. Lots of food and scratches. I hope to find a great new home soon. They put a new picture on of me shaved. Don't laugh when you see it but boy does it feel great to be rid of those yucky matts! I'll look very handsome when my fur grows back.Thanks to Ruff Spots for sponsoring Casper's neuter and to all the people who donated to take care of his other problems. We wish you could hear his purrs of appreciation like we do.

Samuel really needs a loving home

I'm Samuel. I am a young neutered male who came to the Clarenville SPCA in quite a mess.

I was severely matted and dirty and I had ear mites. I have since been all cleaned up, shaved and neutered. The girls here were told my owners moved and just left me behind to fend for myself. I am a very friendly male cat who just loves attention. I need a new family to love me and take care of me a lot better than the my last, "so called," family.

Thanks to Ruff Spots for sponsoring Samuel's neuter and to all the people who donated to take care of his other problems. He sure is glad that people stepped up to help him out.

April 2, 2007 --- Eight In One Pet Products Voluntarily Recalls Dingo CHICKEN JERKY Products in Canada

EIGHT IN ONE ANNOUNCES CANADIAN RECALL OF ALL LOTS OF DINGO® CHICK’N JERKY TREATS FOR DOGS, CATS AND FERRETS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Cincinnati, Ohio – April 2, 2007 -- Eight In One, a division of United Pet Group, Inc., is voluntarily recalling across Canada all lots of Dingo® CHICK’N JERKY treats due to company concerns that the jerky treats have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, which can cause serious infections in dogs and cats, and, if there is cross contamination, in people, especially children, the aged, and people with compromised immune systems.

The products affected were sold at various retailers. The products subject to this voluntary recall are Dingo CHICK’N JERKY 3.5 oz. and 8 oz. for dogs and Dingo Kitty CHICKEN JERKY 1.5 oz. for cats and Dingo Ferret CHICKEN JERKY 1.5 oz for ferrets.
Laboratory testing has shown that some samples of these chicken jerky treats were contaminated with Salmonella. The company is recalling all these products out of an abundance of caution.

Salmonella can potentially be transferred to people handling these pet treats, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products. Healthy people infected with Salmonella can have some or all of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers..
Pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Apparently well animals can be a carrier and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.
The company has received one report of Salmonellosis in a dog. There are no reports of human illness.

These products are being removed from retail stores. Consumers should immediately stop feeding these treats to their pets. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is aware of the recall.
Consumers who purchased any of the above-identified CHICK’N JERKY TREATS should discontinue use of the products and should discard the unused portion. Consumer can obtain information on receiving refunds by contacting the Eight In One consumer affairs department at 1-888-232-9889.

Retailer and other inquiries into this recall should also be directed to the Eight In One consumer affairs department at 1-800-645-5154 x 3.

Humane Society in Washington state holds yoga class for dogs and their owners

Yoga instructor Brenda Bryan, performs a yoga pose as she stretches "Gus," her mixed-breed dog. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) - By the end of their doggie yoga class, most of the wandering and sniffing participants are passed out on their mats, in a position their instructor calls the "upward facing belly pose."

Beans, a majestic 2-year-old Vizsla, however, is ready to play. The overgrown puppy has tried to relax with his owner, Chantale Anderson, but once Magnet the black lab heads off to explore the room, Beans is ready to go. Mostly, however, both the dogs and the humans on a recent evening at the Seattle/King County Humane Society seemed relaxed and focused for about 40 minutes of "doggie yoga."

Leilani the toy poodle is the star of the class, perhaps because the tiny 11-year-old is too timid to venture off the mat to play with the big dogs. Her owner, Suanne Nagata, said afterward that Leilani just loves being touched. "I could just feel her relax," she said.

Brenda Bryan, who teaches human yoga as well as the new class for both dogs and humans at the Humane Society, says the dogs react to the gentle energy in the room. "As we get into it, the dogs all kind of calm down," said Bryan, who developed the poses for the class by working with her own two dogs - Gus, a mixed breed, and Honey, a Shar Pei-Boxer mix - and talking to instructors in other cities like New York, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh where yoga for dogs and their owners is starting to catch on.

The question she and the Humane Society get the most from prospective human students is how do the people and dogs interact? In Bryan's class, the humans do traditional yoga poses - yes, including "downward facing dog" - while staying in contact physically with their pets.
Part of the class includes gentle stretching and dog massage, another specialty of Bryan's, but most of the time the humans gently use the dogs like yoga props.

In downward facing dog, for example, the humans rest their heads on their companions, who are relaxing - napping? - on the mat. The yoga poses are modified both for the humans of different sizes and abilities and for the dogs. During class, Bryan reminds the people not to push their canine partners to perform. "Don't be too ambitious," she said. "Honor where your dog is and remember that dogs respond to our energy."

The class was designed to offer a new way for humans to spend time with their pets. "This is 80 percent fun," said Eve Holt, director of community relations for the Seattle Humane Society.
Bryan calls it "partner yoga," because the class encourages both the human and the dog to increase their awareness of each other. "Magnet and I were just in this little bubble," said Emily Keegans afterward. She said her dog really loves getting the one-on-one attention he receives in yoga class and she likes having another opportunity to both exercise and spend time with her dog. "I love doing yoga and I'm just really busy. Just to spend time with him and be with him is great," added Keegans. She said she was doing dog massage at a Humane Society fundraiser - a dog fashion show - when during a conversation with the agency director she mentioned that she is also a yoga instructor. And the idea for doggie yoga was born.

"It was really just a marriage of all the things I love," Bryan said. She said she hopes the class will open up yoga to a variety of people - and dogs - who have never done this kind of exercise before. "We've been having a lot of fun with this," said Bryan, adding that her own dogs rush to the mat as soon as she unrolls it at home, whether or not she was planning to involve them.
Both the humans and the canines seemed to enjoy themselves before, during and after a recent doggie class at the Humane Society. Shadow visited every mat during the class and made a complete circuit of shoe sniffing toward the end. Beans seemed a lot more interested in making new friends than relaxing, as his owner predicted before the class. "He likes to nap. He is a cuddle bug, but playing is so much more important," Anderson said.

Nearly every dog in the group took at least one break to sniff a canine or human or both, but Bryan seemed pleased with how the class was going and was neither outwardly amused nor flustered when Honey and Shadow crowded onto the mat with her and Gus. Although her voice was yoga calm, her words showed she shared the other humans' amusement.
"Everyone is being so good - and the dogs too."

© The Canadian Press, 2007

Strip from Mutt Comics

More Foods added to Recall List

**Pet Food Recall Alert** New foods added!

Menu Foods Recall

March 31, 2007 --- Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc. Reiterates Only One Product Recalled, Prescription Diet™ m/d™ Feline Dry Food

Del Monte Pet Products Voluntarily Withdraws Specific Product Codes of Pet Treats and Wet Dog Food Products

Year of The Dog

This is a great movie coming out April 13th. Grab a buddy and go see it!!!

http://www.yearofthedogmovie.com/

Year of the Dog

Provided By ROCKiT Media

Update from Sass (one of Lilly's Babies)

Just wanted to send along some pictures and update you guys on how Sass is doing. She's getting really big and has a gorgeous long tail! Everyone is in love with her.
She was spayed shortly after Christmas. (I believe she was in heat over Christmas.... Not Fun!) She had some problems after her surgery with an infection so we had to bring her back to the vet. He gave her an antibiotic and she was fine after that. She is finally growing the hair back on her side. (She kind of looked like she had a dent in her side for awhile! ^_^)
I took her in my arms last week and brought her outside. The wind blew on her face and she didn't like that at all. She jumped out of my arms and ran back into the house. It was really cute though.
I've attached some pictures. We would love to know how her brothers and sister are doing so if you have any updates on them please let us know. Bye for now!!

Brittany and Sass

Pet Food Recall March 19, 2007

Pet Food Recall March 19, 2007 VOCM NEWS

Some veterinary clinics in the St. John's area are busy taking calls from concerned pet owners in the wake of a huge recall of pet food. It follows reports that a number of dogs and cats in the U.S. have died of kidney failure after eating the food. There have been no reports of any such deaths in Canada. The food, manufactured by Menu Foods, is available under a wide variety of brand names and sold in stores including Wal-Mart, Dominion and Sobeys. It includes some 60 million cans and foil pouches of so called 'cuts and gravy' food. Some vet clinics contacted by VOCM News say they were busy taking calls all through the weekend from people looking for information, while others have received very few calls. For information on the recall, the company can be reached at the following numbers:

1-866-895-2708

1-905-826-3870

1-905-814-6040

Indie!!! Update on one of Lilly's Babies!

Here are a couple of pics of Indie. They aren't very good because she was hiding under the couch most of the time my friends were there. Luca was more than happy to be involved in a photo shoot, but Indie was having none of it!

I had her spayed back in early February and she just had her stitches out a couple weeks ago. She's doing great and everyone who sees her wants to keep her because she's such a little cutie! She is such a sook and wants to be up in my arms all the time...she's turning into quite the little princess around my place and if Luca is getting any attention you can be sure she's going to be up in your face to break it up!

Take care,

Kelly

Funny volunteers:)

Just found these pics on my camera from the Dinner and Dance on February 17.

Adrianne and Sarah, 2 of our great volunteers, took the camera that night, and well, here are some ladies posin'!

Thanks girls for all your help that night!

P.S One of these ladies is going to be a DOCTOR. Can you guess which one?

P.S.S The other lady lives in another province. Can you guess which province?

K of C Tickets

The Knights of Colombus are holding their annual Ticket Sale and Ruff-Spots will receive a percentage on the Tickets that Ruff-Spots sell.

These Tickets cost $40.00 each with 20,000 tickets printed (Only 8,520 sold last year) Draw Date is May 19, 2007

Prize payout:

1st prize $50,000.00
2nd prize $15,000.00
3rd prize $5,000.00
Five Draws for $1000.00
Ten Draws for $500.00

If you or a couple of friends or co-workers would like to "go in" on a ticket, please contact us by calling 782-SPAY or email donna.short@nl.rogers.com

Thank you and good luck!